Ex-DuPont employee admits to stealing trade secrets

A former employee pleaded guilty to stealing trade secrets from what is now the world’s largest chemicals company earlier this week.

On Wednesday, July 11, the Department of Justice announced that Josh Isler pleaded guilty to one count of trade secret theft from DuPont and one count of making a false statement to the FBI.

DuPont is now known as DowDuPont after its merger with Dow Chemical Company.

Last week, LSIPR  reported that after accepting an offer of employment from a competitor, Isler transferred DuPont’s electronic files to an external device.

The files contained DuPont’s trade secrets and proprietary information related to DuPont’s customers who were also customers of the competitor or whose business was being sought by the rival.

As part of his guilty plea, Isler admitted that he knew the files contained proprietary information and trade secrets of DuPont’s ethanol fuel enzyme business.

Isler also admitted to transferring some of the files to his new employer and falsely denying to the FBI that he’d downloaded the files.

If convicted of both charges, Isler faces a maximum combined sentence of 15 years’ imprisonment, a fine of up to $500,000 and eight years of supervised release after any imprisonment.

He may also be ordered to pay restitution to DowDuPont.

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